WHY HELFERSKIRCHEN?

My 7th Great Grandfather Valentin Zirfas was born and died in Helferskirchen.  His daughter Anna Catharina Zirfas (my 6th Great Grandmother) was also born in Helferskirchen.  Collateral ancestors of the Hober and Zirfas family branch were born and died in Helferskirchen.  In addition, members of the Ramm family branch also lived in Helferskirchen.

Helferskirchen has a population of about 1100 people.  It is north of Wirges, northwest of Staudt and northeast of Dernbach.  Helferskirchen is 34.3 kilometers and 25 minutes from Koblenz. So it is an excellent place to start visiting my German ancestral home towns.

KATHOLISCHE MARIA HIMMELFAHRT

In my last post, I talked about how half of the interments in the Katholische Friedhof Wirges cemetery in Wirges, Germany are either my ancestors or spouses of my ancestors.  I wondered how many I would find in the nearby (about 4 miles) cemetery called Katholische Maria Himmelfahrt in Helferskirchen, Germany.

Well, I did not have the same luck as I did with the cemetery in Wirges.  According to FindaGrave.com, 580 interments are listed for the cemetery in Helferskirchen.  I found 40 ancestors in that 580 listing and 19 spouses.  Of note, I did find, my 6th great grandparents Anna Catharina Zirfas and Mathias Bast.  I also found Anna Catharina's parents (my 7th great grandparents) Elizabeth Zirfas and Valentin Zirfas.  There were also a few Hobers listed there.

The church shown in the photo is the Assumption of Mary Catholic Church.  The cemetery is located next to the church.  I am thinking that this will be another stop on my genealogy trip down the Rhine River.  Hopefully I will be able to locate my 6th and 7th great grandparents' graves as well as take a tour of what is commonly referred to as one of the most beautiful baroque churches in this region.

MY GERMAN VALENTIN'S

As a child, I loved giving as well as receiving valentines on February 14th.  No one I actually knew though had the name "Valentin".  In the past few years, I have learned that a few of my ancestors did have the first name of Valentin.  How romantic is that?

In my German roots, there are two male relatives named Valentin -- Valentin Hober and Valentin Zirfas.  Valentin Hober was my first cousin 7 times removed.  He was born on 20 Jan 1733 in Staudt, Germany and died on 26 Mar 1897 also in Staudt, Germany.  Staudt is near Cologne and the Rhine River. Valentin married Katharine Kleibusch.  Valentin and Katherine are buried in Katholische Friedhof Wirges in Wirges, Germany.

My other German "Valentin" is Valentin Zirfas, who was my 7th great grandfather.  Valentin Zirfas was born in Helferskirchen, Germany in 1665.  He is buried at Katholische Maria Himmelfahrt.  His wife's name was Elizabeth.  Valentin and Elizabeth had four children -- Johann, Christian, Anna Catharina (my 6th great grandmother) and Peter.

Happy Valentine's Day to my two German Valentin's!  Looking forward to March 17th , I am wondering how many Patrick's are in my family tree ...